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Fake Diplomas, Real Cash: Pakistani Company Axact Reaps Millions

nytimes.com

11–20 of 81 posts

Re: Fake Diplomas, Real Cash: Pakistani Company Axact Reaps Millions

#11
post #4

I always knew that they were doing something shady. Also their employees have to sign NDA's to work. I know quite a few people who worked at Axact. And no one is willing to tell me what kind of work he/she did there. I naturally assumed that it had the backing of the pakistani intelligence agencies guess i was wrong. There is also another thing that i would like to add here, there is an answer on quora which those in…

In the US at least, an NDA is generally a standard part of an employment contract.

Re: Fake Diplomas, Real Cash: Pakistani Company Axact Reaps Millions

#12
This corrupt river runs deep...

There is sustained speculation that this company is a front for money laundering connected to the Pakistani ISI. Their use of lawyers & NDA's is also well known in the subcontinent.

For a very similar degree mill of Indian Incarnation check out IIPM http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_Institute_of_Planning_an... run by the Slick shyster Arindam Chaudhury

Re: Fake Diplomas, Real Cash: Pakistani Company Axact Reaps Millions

#13
Interesting - a quick search of reviews on Glassdoor for Axact found multiple employees complaining about the company's unethical business: http://www.glassdoor.com/Reviews/Axact-Reviews-E333658.htm

July 27, 2013: “Great benefits, great learning but ethically wrong! ”

"Also the company deals in fake online university degrees and also providing research papers to students. The research paper part would not be so bad if the quality was good enough for students to not fail."

Jun 28, 2013: “Kills your market worth as a professional”

"Unethical businesses"

Re: Fake Diplomas, Real Cash: Pakistani Company Axact Reaps Millions

#14
post #5

oh the CNN ireport links are nice touch. http://barkleyuniversity.com/about/newsroom/ the links still work too. http://ireport.cnn.com/docs/DOC-1070836 i guess there's zero editorial oversight in the iReport section.

> i guess there's zero editorial oversight in the iReport section.

That's explicitly stated. "The stories here are not edited fact-checked or screened before they post." http://ireport.cnn.com/about.jspa

Re: Fake Diplomas, Real Cash: Pakistani Company Axact Reaps Millions

#15
post #3

>One Saudi man spent over $400,000 on fake degrees and associated certificates, said Mr. Jamshaid, the former employee. What on earth is the point of buying that many credentials? At that rate you might as well spend the time getting a real one.

Lots of different reasons, including but not limited to: 1. Immigration 2. Hiding wealth ("Where did you get that money from?") 3. Hiding time ("What have you been doing for the last 5 years") 4. Releasing inheritance ("Clause 24: [x] can only get his share once he earns a Masters degree in [y]") 5. Fraud 6. Money laundering

7. Reputation and Respect. We all love those letters after our name.

Re: Fake Diplomas, Real Cash: Pakistani Company Axact Reaps Millions

#19
post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Lots of different reasons, including but not limited to: 1. Immigration 2. Hiding wealth ("Where did you get that money from?") 3. Hiding time ("What have you been doing for the last 5 years") 4. Releasing inheritance ("Clause 24: [x] can only get his share once he earns a Masters degree in [y]") 5. Fraud 6. Money laundering

7. Reputation and Respect. We all love those letters after our name.

I live in a Middle Eastern country, and as I understand in East Asia it is pretty much the same:

People here very much discriminate against candidates based upon race and where they were educated. I would go so far as saying a Western candidate, fresh from completing their course from a Western university would be chosen over an Indian candidate with a similar level degree from an Indian university and 5 years experience.

There isn't much you can do to change your race, so a lot of people opt to get fake degrees from 'Western sounding' universities. The show they have setup is pretty tight, you can even phone up to 'verify' that they were in-fact a student.

(Just to clarify I'm a Westerner with a Western degree so this isn't jealously or anything like that)

Re: Fake Diplomas, Real Cash: Pakistani Company Axact Reaps Millions

#20
Here's one of their sites: Columbiana University.[1] The name is similar to the Columbiana campus of Kent State University, but the two are unrelated.

CNN's IReport site, which publishes press releases without checking them, has one of their bogus PR announcements.[2]

Our SiteTruth system is not happy with their site.[3] "No street address found on site ... Secure certificate: No valid certificate. ... Rating: Site ownership unknown or questionable (No Location)" When a site that's trying to sell you something comes up like that, it's not good.

[1] http://www.columbianauniversity.com/ [2] http://ireport.cnn.com/docs/DOC-982469 [3] http://www.sitetruth.com/fcgi/ratingdetails.fcgi?url=www.col...

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